Cheesy Baked Potatoes with Coleslaw and tomato pear salsa
This is a fabulously cheesy baked potato without the saturated fat of dairy cheese. So, for those of you who are lactose intolerant or craving cheese or wanting to stop eating cheese this is a must have recipe. Cheesy Baked Potatoes with Coleslaw and Tomato Pear SalsaMakes 4 potatoesIngredients Cheesy veg filling1 small zucchini cubed 1 small head of broccoli cut up in pieces same size...
Christmas Salads
Christmas Salads It is so difficult to believe that I am writing about Christmas again. The year has been long and fast all at the same time. What do you do for Christmas? If you have been following my blog for a long time you will see that I have been through many phases at Christmas. It was only last year that I decided to really embrace Christmas. To be honest, for me as an adult Christmas...
Waldorf Salad
Waldorf Salad When we were growing up my dad often requested a Waldorf salad. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago when I was invited to a shared meal gathering that I actually had made one. I drew inspiration from Yotam Ottelenghi’s cookbook Plenty More. It will definitely be on my table for celebration dinners and am thinking for those who celebrate Thanksgiving this could be a winner...
Sleepy Time Salad with Fetta Sauce
Food to Help you Sleep What sort of sleep do you get? Do you sleep right through the night without waking up, or do you have broken sleep, or do you suffer from insomnia? If you struggle with sleep (like I do) you may be happy to know that what we eat in the evening meal can have an impact on our sleep. There has been extensive research done on food for sleep. So this week I share...
Green and White Salad
Cooking Tip 101 (Preventing spillage on the stove top when cooking grains) Do you add oil to your pasta cooking water? Have you been told it prevents your pasta sticking together/ I stopped adding oil to my pasta water more than a decade ago because my pasta never stuck together whether I had oil in the water or not and I just thought it was a waste of oil. However recently that has...
Thai Millet Salad
Did you know how good millet is for your health? Here I am back singing the praises of millet. Do you have it in your pantry. If not go out and buy a cup or two. I made this delicious salad on Sunday for a gathering I was to attend, which then got cancelled due to the rain so I was left with lots and lots of this salad which was fine by me as I didn’t mind eating it for breakfast, lunch and...
Sushi Salad
Turning your sushi roll into a salad ensuring you get a good dose of iodine The last two days we have been preparing for the Three Day Vegan Foundation Cooking Course. It has been a lot of work and I have loved every minute of it as I am so ecstatic to be running these courses again. The last course was in March 2020 and it has been too long between drinks as they say. I can’t wait for...
Veet's Macro Plate
Welcome to Veganuary with a Happy Song This is the first blog post for 2021 and I wish you all a happy new year and for those who didn’t receive the newsletter last week I have a super duper new years special on the online course. Check below for details. The course has no time limit so you may want to make the most of the cheap price even if you can’t start it straight away....
A Mexican Fiesta to Celebrate with this Christmas
A Mexican Fiesta to Celebrate with this Christmas I had this idea that I would start this week’s blog with some healthy tips but hey who wants healthy at this time of the year. I’ll save that for the New Year. What I would like to say though is if you keep it vegan and keep it organic you really can’t go wrong. It’s non traditional fare I will share with my friends this...
Roast Beetroot and Carrot Brown Rice Salad with Caesar Dressing
What is resistant starch and why is it good for you? It’s hard to believe that the online course Cooking at Home with Veet will soon be launched. Launch date is the 24th November. Exciting to the max. Make sure you are signed up to the upcoming cooking course mailing list so you don’t miss out on the coupon to get the discount and be one of the first people to start the course. It is a fun...
Salads for Both Hemispheres
Pumpkin, Tempeh, Olive and Quinoa Salad and Roast Cauliflower, Peas and Hazelnut Pasta Salad If you can’t wait to find out the big news at Veet’s Vegan Cooking School skip the recipe and go to the message at the end of the newsletter. If you can wait then you are in for a treat with these two delicious salads that can be eaten in both hemispheres, as they are equally delicious hot or cold...
Winter Health Boosting Salad with Sage and Oregano
Healthy Salad Using up Left Over Grains After the naughty but decadent recipe I shared with you last week I thought a healthy recipe was in store for this week. It’s week one in my schedule of blog posts which means book review week and while this warm winter salad doesn’t feature in any particular book (my own creation) I feel I was inspired by Hetty Mckinnon’s book Family. It is not a...
Celebrating Turning Fifty with all my Favourite Recipes
Celebrating Turning Fifty with all my Favourite Recipes As I write this blog post it is one week before it will go to publication. I am writing early as I will be away next week when you receive this newsletter. In the newsletter plan it is the request week and this week I am not sending you a new recipe but answering a request that I often get. What are your favourite things to cook Veet?...
Winter Salad with a Home Made Balsamic Glaze
Winter Salad with a Home Made Balsamic Glaze Last Thursday to Saturday I facilitated the 29th Vegan Foundation Cooking Course where four wonderful people attended. It was a treat for all of us to have such a small group and some very creative food was made. In the past I have written about how life transforming the Vegan Foundation course is for people who attend....
Tempeh ‘Tunaless’ Salad
How often do you buy a cook book, have a good flick through, salivate at the pictures then put it on the bookshelf never to it open again? There are so many cookbooks that I do this with and I have promised myself that I will choose one a year and go through them and make every recipe I like the look of. Then on occasion I buy a cook book that I can’t put down and I try out at least...
One Pot Camping Meals (Take Two)
One Pot Camping Meals (Take Two) I just found the book I wrote camp recipes in when we were road tripping in November and December last year and realised that I still have some beauties to share with you. The recipes are so easy for camping as they all only need one saucepan or wok to cook them in. Which also makes them great for one pot meals in the home. Once again all these recipes fed...
Grilled Nectarine, Broccoli and Almond Fetta Salad
Making the Most of Stone Fruit The organic stone fruit we are getting in our area at the moment is not so tasty. We had such a good year last year that this year pales in comparison. Still wanting to make the most of the stone fruit that keeps appearing in our local Santos Health Food Shop I decided to grill the nectarines in this very simple salad. The addition of the best vegan...
Curing my childhood nostalgia with Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum)
You know those meals that you had growing up that you just can’t get out of your head. Something that you just have to have from time to time to overcome the nostalgia. Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum) is one of those dishes for me. When I moved to Darwin from the tiny town of Katherine in the Northern Territory at the age of nine I couldn’t believe the sights, sounds and tastes of this new world I...
The Perfect Salad
In 2013 I was asked to cater for the wedding of Sarah and Jo. All the weddings that I have catered are memorable and I feel grateful for the opportunity to have been part of their special day. Sarah and Jo’s wedding I remember so well as I was amazed at how relaxed and surrendered they were about the catering. After the initial booking I asked Sarah if she would like to meet...
Spanish Inspired Share Plates
Spanish Inspired Share Plates Living in a town that still has an independent bookshop feels like a big luxury to me. Being time poor I probably only find myself in there six or so times a year. However each time I do visit I walk out with an armful of books. Denise who owns the book shop seems to always have a new vegan cook book in stock so even though I may originally go in to purchase a novel...
Caribbean Salad Inspired by my Stay in India
Caribbean Salad Inspired by my Stay in India I’m back from my month in India. Totally refreshed and ready to start working again, so weekly recipes are back, Yahoo! What an incredible time I had away. I didn’t go travelling in India but spent the full month in the Osho International Meditation Resort and did a life transforming process called Osho Mystic Rose. I can highly recommend it. It was...
Fig and Orange Salad (what a treat)
While I still see figs in the fruit and veg fridge at our local health food shop (Santos) I think I should quickly get this salad recipe out to you while the figs are still in season. This is a recipe I would never have thought of making so I am delighted it came my way. In the Vegan foundation Course the participants get to create their signature dish and Suzanne and Mike decided to try...
To Dress or Not to Dress? (That is the Question)
Do you always dress your salads or is salad dressing not so important to you? I grew up with either having vinegar or mayonnaise on my salads. Sometimes I was able to eat a salad without any dressings. These days I couldn’t possibly eat a salad without a dressing. With so many delicious dressing around these days it almost feels a crime not to add one and the beauty is we can make them all...
Its easier than you think to get all your nutrients on a vegan diet (plus 3 zinc filled recipes)
A few people of late have asked me for recipes and ideas to help them transition into a vegan diet more easily. It's too much to share in one email so I feel I will need to do a series. This is the first blog of three or four, I would say. I'm starting with vitamins, minerals and nutrients as this is what often concerns people (protein will come in another blog). I'm a believer that if you eat a...
Ceviche
A Refreshing Lunch for The Day AfterHow did everyone go yesterday? Hope you all had a wonderful day no matter how you chose to spend it. What did you cook? Would love to hear from you and please do share any photos to the facebook page or to instagram and tag me #veetsvegancookingschool. Today is my favourite day of all the festive days. Boxing day was traditionally a more relaxed day for our...
Cooking with Seasonal Produce – It’s Asparagus time!
Cooking with Seasonal Produce – It’s Asparagus time!It's asparagus season and I need to get in quick with this blog as asparagus season is often short lived, where I live anyway. There are all sorts of nutritional benefits to eating asparagus, like it has a good source of vitamin A (which we need for our eyesight, building our immunity and reproduction of cells and it also helps with organ...
A Fusion Summer Salad with Watermelon
A Fusion Summer Salad with WatermelonI am reviewing books in every other post or so. A few months back I reviewed a few recipes from Saffron Soul by Mira Manek. Both the kidgeree and the granola were recipes I developed from this book. I want to share with you two more recipes I have developed from inspiration through reading this book. A salad recipe this week and a curry next week. Then I...
Crunchy Apple and Fetta Quinoa Salad
Not just another quinoa salad recipe (this one really is worth a try) Don’t you love how inspiration can come from unrelated happenings? Today I took out a pyrex of frozen quinoa to have for lunch and an hour later I noticed an envelope on the table that had been delivered while I was away. Inside the envelope was a copy of the September/October edition of Australian Country Magazine....
Picnic Food Ideas Including a Quinoa Tabbouleh with a Magical Tahini Sauce
As I am writing this I am planning a kayak trip up our local river and then plan to have a picnic in my front yard before getting back to my paper work. So it feels like it’s picnic time and time to get out my picnic creativity.I am instantly taken back to memories of the school holidays in the early eighties when my brother and I used to go to the local swimming pool for the day. We weren’t into...
Two Winning Potato Salads
Can anything be more nurturing than potato salad? These two recipes can accompany you to any food occasion Potato salad is a winner isn’t it? It can be taken to share dinners, taken out on picnics, served warm, served cold, served the next day and I have known some to eat it on a sandwich. It is rare that I make it but when I do I make massive batches so I can add it to my lunch box and take the...
A Salad Recipe Packed with Complete Protein
A Salad Recipe Packed with Complete ProteinHow often do you eat salad? Is it just a summer time food for you or are you like me and need a salad no matter what the weather holds. I always have a salad every lunch even throughout winter and then something more cooked for dinner. However recently I have been enjoying these balmy summer nights eating a deliciously prepared salad. The other night we...
Tips for Vegans and Vegetarians at Christmas
Tips for vegans/vegetarians at christmas or for those of you who have vegans coming to lunch at christmasFor me this has always been a difficult time of year being forced to attend events where people chow down on big bits of animal parts. Even at a so called vegetarian gathering some years ago I was gob smacked when I saw a dead chicken on the table. So I have taken the cowards way out and stay...
Korma Comedian Curry, Green Thai Fritters & Chilli Thai Salad
When in India do as the Indians do!As you read this post I will be in India and by now smelling of turmeric, fenugreek and curry spices in general. My life without India, Indian food and meditation would be quite difficult to live. This year’s visit to the Osho International Meditation Resort in Pune India has come around earlier. After an intensely busy year I could not wait until the usual...
Quinoa lentil and Cauliflower Salad with a Currant Sauce
Book review time. Last Tuesday I went on a book shop binge and $269 later I walked out with two canvas bags full (I am praying my partner is not reading this blog post because that really was extravagant). Amongst those books was a great new cookbook called Neighbourhood by Hetty Mckinnon. This by no means is a vegan cookbook but definitely is vegetarian. I actually prefer to buy vegetarian...
Salad Remnoise with Sunflower Seed Dip
A salad made from veggies found in the fridge - tastier than tasty can beWhere I live it is starting to warm up and I love this time of the year. It is warm enough to eat salads every meal of every day which brings me great joy as salad is my favourite food. What I especially love during spring is salad with some cooked components and some raw ingredients too. As I sat writing this blog last...
Making recipes vegan or dairy free is soooooo easy (3 fabulous vegan recipes from reviewing My New Roots)
What a great idea it is to review a cook book. Two blog posts ago I mentioned that I am reviewing recipes in My New Roots by Sarah Britton and changing the recipes to vegan recipes. It is great fun and I completely recommend grabbing a vegetarian cook book and doing the same.I am not reviewing every recipe just those that make me salivate from the sheer glimpse of ingredients listed. I have...
Spicy Tahini Dressing
How I Became Inspired Again to Write Weekly Blogs (plus monthly recipe review - My New Roots)As many of you know I have focused my time and attention this year on creating The Vegan Cooking School. Establishing a wonderful training for people wanting to become vegan chefs or those who want to adopt a more healthy lifestyle.As a result of juggling the new school and all the usual catering jobs I...
Thai Green Papaya Salad
I need your help!!! What music do you listen to in the kitchen?Over the last five or so months my beloved partner Makrand has been playing the ukelele in the kitchen when I cook but he draws the line at accompanying me on retreats with to play as I cook for clients. I have now become accustomed to having music as I cook and I realise as I am working away on retreat after retreat I have very...
Fermented Veg Salad
What's all the fuss about sauerkraut? Simple ways of making your own cheaply.What is all the fuss about sauerkraut? How can cabbage that is stuffed in a jar and left to ferment for more than three weeks be remotely good for you? It's smelly and bubbles away, it doesn't make any sense. These were all things that crossed my mind when I started making my own. Sauerkraut isn't new to me nor is it...
Love is in the Air (what it takes to stay together for 49 years)
This blog post has been a work in progress, I started it when I was on the west coast of Australia a few weeks back and made a couple of attempts at sending it to you. Once I returned home I saw the blog post and ss I hadn't completed it I thought I would scrap it but read it again recently and thought to share it with you all. I Hope you enjoy my ramblings, the recipes are lovely too...
Delicious Meals for People with Diabetes (that the whole family will love)
A few months ago I found out it was National Diabetics week and I regretted not knowing about it so I could have posted a blog that week. Weeks and weeks later I am still determined to get a blog post out to you as it is a subject close to home. My father has type two diabetes and even though he has had it for more than twenty years I am only just beginning to understand what Diabetes is....
My Very Personal Story of Giving up Coffee (what is yours?)
Are you coffee addicted? Are you trying to give up coffee or have you recently given up. Its a big journey to give up an addiction and I want to share my journey with those of you who are interested. Drinking coffee has been something very familiar to me practically my whole life. As a teenager I would buy my thirty three cent Pauls's Iced coffee from the school canteen each and every day. Apart...
Avocados
At the age of fourteen doing work experience at the Darwin Travelodge to see if cheffing would be my chosen career, I came across avocado for the first time. Avocados had newly arrived in Darwin and I had heard of them as my best friend's mum loved them on toast but had never actually seen or tasted one. One of the chefs supervising me cut an avo in half proclaiming how delicious they were. He...
Organic Cold Pressed Oils
What oils do you use? It is a big question, for me the number one importance is that the oil is organic and secondly that it is cold pressed. Ever since I left home at the age of eighteen I have used good quality cold pressed olive oil. It was the only oil I used for decades. In recent years though becoming aware of heating points of oils things have changed. Basically, I still...
Mange Tout (Snow Peas)
Growing up in a small town in the Northern Territory I remember very well the times my mum would come home with an exciting new fruit or vegetable. She would describe what she thought they tasted like before giving them to us and then my brother and I would decide if we agreed or not, we were like miniature connoisseurs. Mandarins, kiwi fruit, eggplant, silver beet, rambutans and snow peas...
Quinoa
Fifteen years ago quinoa first appeared in my life, my then housemate Bodhitara introduced it to me. I had never eaten anything quite like it and was instantly in love. In those days local produce wasn't a concept I really considered and ate it regularly not realising it had flown thousands of kilometers to reach my plate. These days quinoa is the buzz word making appearances on menus in cafes,...
Mexican Inspired Lettuce Cups
I have been promising this recipe to a few people for a while now and before the Mango season dries up I think I better get it to you all. This is a refreshing summer recipe. When I first made it I made it in individual bowls with big lettuce leaves, it was a very wholesome lunch. Recently though in the cooking classes here in the Byron shire we have been making it in small lettuce cups and...
Vandana Shiva and Millet Recipes
The recent Uplift festival had many highlights for me and the first was listening to Vandana Shiva's talk. I had catered for Vandana Shiva the week prior to the festival and hadn't actually realised how famous or how influential she has been in the world. When catering for Vandana Shiva I instantly liked her but wasn't quite sure why. After hearing her speak I felt truly honored that I had been...
Christmas Ideas and Healthy alternatives for Eating Salmon
This is an extra blog post this week to give you some wonderful ideas for Christmas and keep you from reaching for a packet salmon. I am not entirely sure why but in the last few weeks it has been bought to my attention how much salmon is being consumed these days.This led me to look into why people are eating salmon and how it is farmed. Alarmingly salmon is grown with very few ethics and in my...
Uplift Festival and Mango Salsa Recipe
My next stint of work is going to be big and as I write I am thinking about how utterly blessed I am to be catering for such incredible people. I start with catering lunches for Gangaji and Eli’s last retreat in Australia. It will be a complete honor to provide delicious food made of exceptionally high quality ingredients to a beautiful group of people. Then that retreat leads straight into...
Cauliflower Salsa
This week’s recipe is up there as one of my favourite salads. For me I find cooked cauliflower difficult to digest but raw cauliflower feels great in my system. Packed with vitamin C and containing a good source of vitamin K it works well with vegetables rich in iron increasing the chance of the body absorbing the iron. So with the parsley in this dish you are on to a winner. I first created this...
Beetroot, Fennel and Mint Salad with Turmeric Tempeh
Last Monday unbeknown to one another, Makrand (my partner) and I had been into Mullumbimby and visited the local herbal dispensary, Mullum Herbals. Both of us for different ailments and both within minutes of each other. My inquiry was not an ailment as such but a question on what herbs to take for anxiety and at the end of the conversation the lovely naturopath said that anxiety can be...
Denise Latham's Lettuces and In Between Season's Salad Recipe
A year into my business I started to frequent the New Brighton Farmers Market as well as the Byron Bay farmers market. On my first visit I came across a stall selling organic lettuces. Prior to this visit I had been buying an organic lettuce mix and was getting a relatively good price on it. However, when I saw these lettuces at New Brighton Farmers market there was something quite different...